Closet
by goldensphere
Summary: Seven-year old Ash has just moved into a new house. Little does he know what surprises wait for him there.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! Here's a random story I came up with. It's probably only going to be two or three chapters at most, though. Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

"Here we are," Delia told her seven-year-old son, Ash. "Our new house."

Ash looked up at the house, silhouetted against the sun in front of him. It cast a dark shadow on him, and dusty white curtains were visible through the windows.

"Cool," said the raven-head. "We're gonna live here now?"

Delia sighed.

"Don't worry, Dear. It's only for the temporary," she said. "There is an apartment very close to here and it needed a new cook. I took the job, and it gives amazingly high pay. The manager directly offered me the job back home. They really needed a cook for the apartment kitchen and oh! I just couldn't deny! They are such nice people, those Haydens. This neighbourhood is just walking distance from the apartment and—"

"Who're the Haydens?" asked Ash.

"The manager's family," Delia replied to her son. "Now we won't be living in this house for very long. We'll just stay here until we find a nicer place to live that is near the apartment. Oh, and we also need to find a school for you. Back to School season starts pretty soon."

The seven-year-old boy thought for a moment.

"Why don't we live in the apartment that you're working in?"

"Oh, Ash. All the rooms were already taken. I'm sorry. Now why don't we take a look inside the house. Perhaps it's not as bad on the inside," said Delia, quickly changing the topic. She did not want to worry her little boy.

They opened the door and found themselves in a small sitting area without any furniture. The what-was-once-white carpet was stained with unknown black marks, and smudges of paint were visible peeling off on the off-white wall, standing out like black claws. The house smelled like dust, like the dust that lay layered on the top of the fire-place to the dust that was floating around. It was an ugly sight.

"I-it's not _that_ bad," said Delia, though she herself looked doubtful. "All we need to do is a little cleaning up and it'll be as good as new in no time at all!"

"I think it's really cool! There must be Pokemon hiding around!" Ash cried out enthusiastically. "I'm gonna be the one to find them!"

"O-oh Ash—" But before she could finish her sentence, the boy had already rushed off somewhere further in the house.

"Ash!" she called out again.

That was what she was afraid of. Wild, dangerous Pokemon that could harm her son.

The mother ran further inside the house and looked around for Ash. Finally, she found him inside a room.

"I didn't find any Pokémon," the boy told her with a slight disappointment in his voice. "I found this room. It has a closet with a wooden floor but there isn't anything in there either."

Delia sighed in relief.

"Ash, don't run off like that again!" she scolded him before embracing him in a hug. "This is not safe like our old home. I have a bad feeling about this neighbourhood in general. We will find a new home in a safer neighbourhood as quick as possible, okay?"

"Okay," replied the seven-year-old looking uninterested. Ash then ducked down from underneath the hug.

"But I'm still gonna be the Pokémon master!" he shouted. Before him mother could stop him, the boy energetically ran off.

"Ash!"

Delia rushed after him.

* * *

Ash was bored. A day had passed since they had moved inside the house and his mother was scrubbing the carpet clean. The boy walked around the house until he found himself in front of the front door.

 _Maybe I'll find a park somewhere or some cool new Pokémon,_ the boy thought to himself.

Delia was so focused on getting rid of a black stain on the carpet that she didn't notice when her son walked outside the door.

Ash looked around as he walked about the neighbourhood. Although it was morning, the tall houses around cast shadows, making the surroundings look dark.

He stopped walking when he heard a voice.

"You're weak!" a voice said.

"Yeah! What are you? Level one?" added another voice.

"Hey guys, maybe we should be a bit nicer to the Weedle," a third voice protested. "I mean, it can't help if it's weak."

"Hey who's side are you on anyways? Ours, or the Pokémon's?"

Ash's eyes widened. A Pokémon! And it seemed to be in danger!

Feeling like a superhero, Ash zoomed to where he had heard the voices. He found himself watching from a distance, three boys about his age, surrounding a little worm-like Pokémon cowering on the ground.

 _It needs my help!_ Ash thought.

"—But it's just a worthless little—"

"Hey! Leave it alone!" Ash shouted running towards them.

The three boys turned around.

"I said leave the Pokémon alone!" Ash repeated. He stopped right in front of them, panting.

"Who are _you_?" said a boy with plum-coloured hair.

Something gave Ash the impression that this kid was the leader of the gang.

"I'm Ash!" he exclaimed boldly. "And I'm seven-and-a-quarter years old!"  
The green-haired boy beside the plum-head took a step ahead.

"Hi! I'm Dr—"

"No! Me first!" a spiky-haired brunette interrupted, pushing the grass-head aside.

"Hi Ashy-Boy," he said, giving a not-so-nice smile. "I'm _the_ Gary Oak and I'm seven-and-a- _half_! So I'm bigger than you. _Ha_ _ha_."

Ash frowned.

"Well that doesn't make you any better than me and my name is _not_ Ashy-Boy. It's Ash."

"I'm Drew," said the grass-head. He then smirked. "And Gary thinks he's so smart but he can't even tie his own shoe-laces."

"I can too!" shouted Gary. "Drewy doesn't know anything 'cause he's _only seven._ Not even seven-and-a-quarter! So that makes me the biggest!"

"No," said the third boy who hadn't introduced himself yet. "I'm eight. I'm the _oldest_ so you all have to do what I say."

"Pauly's just a show-off!" Gary stuck out his tongue at the plum-head.

"My name is not Pauly, by the way," the boy said seriously, turning to Ash. "It's Paul."

"Yeah, and I'm not Drewy," added Drew. "Gary just made that up."

"Drewy-Wewy," sang the spiky-head. "is so phooey. Pauly Wally, is a dolly."

"ASH!"

The boys turned around to see Delia running towards him.

She quickly grabbed Ash's arm and pulled him away from the other boys.

" _Ash!_ " she exclaimed, pulling him back to the house. " _What were you thinking?_ "

"I made new friends," said the boy, stumbling along.

"Don't you make friends with street-boys!" exclaimed his mother, pulling him into the house. "I don't want you to get into stuff like that! They could wrongly influence you! Oh don't you run off like that!"

She pulled him back inside the house.

"You are not to go outside on your own," Delia told him sternly. "Understand?"

Ash looked down at his shoes.

"Ash?"

"But Mom!" exclaimed the boy suddenly. "They were being mean to a Pokémon and I stopped them!"

"You are not to go outside on your own, okay?"

Finally, Ash gave in.

"Okay," he said glumly. He turned off and went back to the room that had been set up for him. The room with the closet.

* * *

Gary, Paul, and Drew were curious. None of them had ever seen the new boy before. So where did he came from?

"He's in that house," said Drew as they all stood in front of Ash's house. An open window was visible at the side of it and the three looked at each other.

"I think we should find out more about him," said Gary. "And the only way to do that is to go on a top secret spy mission. I saw it on TV."

"So you mean sneak into the house and spy on him?" asked Drew. "But what if we get caught?"

"We won't," replied Gary. "As spies, we have to take _risks_."

Both boys turned to Paul for approval. The plum-head gave a nod.

"Let's do this," said the spiky-haired boy.

As quietly as they could, the three boys soon found them inside a room in the house. Ash's back was at them, for he was busy with some type of toy.

Paul, Gary and Drew ducked behind the bed.

"He's just playing," whispered Drew. "It's _boring_. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"No!" Gary whispered back. "You wait and see. He could be faking."

"Sshh. Don't staring crying here," whispered Paul. "He might hear you."

"I am _not_ crying," Gary hissed back.

Wanting to rile Gary up a bit more, Paul added with a smirk, "Baby."

"I'm not a baby!" shouted Gary, a bit louder than a whisper.

"Ssshh! Gary, that's too loud!" Drew whispered urgently. But it was too late. They had been caught.

"Um, what are you guys doing here?" asked Ash, confused.

The three boys remained silent.

"I'm not mad at you or anything," Ash said reassuringly. "Just curious, that's all."

Finally, Paul stood up.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Ash furrowed his eyebrows. "I already told you, remember? I'm Ash K—"

"That's not what he meant," Gary stood up too. "When did you come here? There aren't many new people who come in this area."

"Especially other boys around our age," added Drew, standing up with the other two.

"Well, " Ash looked around, not too sure how to respond. "I came here yesterday and—"

"Ash?" Delia's voice was suddenly heard. "Who are you talking to?"

The raven-head's eyes widened with horror. Footsteps could be heard coming nearer.

"It's my mom!" Ash whispered frantically. "If she sees you, we're gonna be in trouble!"

"Oh no," whispered Drew.

"Quickly! In here!" Ash whispered, opening his closet door. The other boys hurried into the the closet. "My mom doesn't like street boys."

"We're not street b—" Before Gary could finish, Ash had closed the closet door and Delia had reached her son's room.

"Ash?" Delia questioned. "Who were you talking to?"

"N-nobody," the boy quickly replied.

He quickly stood in front of his closet with his arms stretched out beside him in case his mother tried opening it.

"Ash! W—" Delia suddenly stopped talking and her eyes widened in horror. "Something's burning on the stove!"

She ran off to save her cooking and Ash let out a breath of relief.

He quietly closed his bedroom door and then opened the door of his closet.

Gary had a scowl on his face.

"We're _not_ street boys," he grumbled.

"Yeah. I'm Drew Hayden," said Drew, quietly in case Ash's mother could hear them. "And my family is the owner of Rose Scent Apartment. That's really close to here, just outside this neighbourhood. I live there too. We just got a new cook who's really good at cooking, and we even do room service which means we can give you breakfast delivered to your room if you want, like a restaurant. You can come too someday, maybe. And also, everyone is nice to everyone there, and it's safe. I'm not allowed to go out without my parents, but I sneak out anyway. And also—"

"My turn, now," Gary interrupted. "Drewy's talking too much. I'm Gary Oak and my grandpa is a _famous_ scientist. He came here to do some _research_ on some Pokémon and I got to come along since I'm very smart. Grandpa said so himself and he's famous, so it must be true. I'm living in Drew's apartment with grandpa for now, and we sneak out together when Drew comes over to my room, and when Grandpa goes to sleep watching TV about Poetry Contests, or eating pizza."

"But I thought he was a famous scientist," said Ash.

Gary ignored him.

"This is Paul," Gary gestured at Paul. "He lives in this neighbourhood somewhere and he sneaks out too."  
"No," said Paul. "I'm eight so I'm big enough to go outside alone. I don't have to have a grown-up with me. I can take care of myself."

"You're lying!" shouted Gary.

"Ash!" Delia shouted from behind them. She stood by the door with her hands of her hips and a shocked look.

The boys quickly looked at each other.

"In here," Paul said, pulling Gary and Drew with him into the closet. Without thinking, Ash followed them in and closed the closet door, in fear that he might be in trouble. Paul opened a secret trapdoor on the ground, and within seconds, the boys found themselves on a ladder with the trapdoor closed above them, engulfed in pitch darkness.

"Ash?" they heard Ash's mother demand, in a voice of bewilderment, worry, and sternness. They could tell she was in the closet, right above them, and her footsteps thudded over their heads. She didn't seem to have noticed the trapdoor.

"Ash?!" she exclaimed loudly, but still, there was no reply.

They could hear the mom searching the entire closet. Box after box, to every pile of clothes until…

"What's this?" they heard from right above them. "A trapdoor?"

The boys couldn't see each other in the darkness, but they all were terrified. At the same time, all four boys tried going down the ladder at the same time and bumped into each other, causing them to loose their grips. All four screamed, falling down, down, down.

The trapdoor suddenly pulled open, and blinded by the sudden light, the boys' fall slowed down into slow motion.

 _"Mr. Ketchum! Wait!"_ was the last thing all four boys heard, before they blacked out…

 _To be continued…_

* * *

 **Done! A cliff-hanger, well isn't that exciting? I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think about it, follow, favourite, and stay tuned for the next chapter!  
**

 **Have a spectacular day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! I am back with chapter 2! Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokemon in any way!**

* * *

"Oh, look one of them is waking up," said a person with plum-coloured hair.

Both Mr. Ketchum and Mr. Shinji turned to look as Drew slowly opened his eyes. He didn't know where he was, and he sat up, looking around in confusion.

Mr. Shinji turned back to his boss.

"What I don't understand though, Sir," he said. "Is that why is Paul here? He's supposed be at home right now. You don't suppose he snuck out, do you?"

"What _I_ don't understand," Mr. Ketchum replied. "Is that why is _Ash_ here. How could it be? He lived back in Pallet Town with Delia."

"Wh-where am I?" asked Drew, looking from one end of the room, to the other.

He saw that he had been lying down on a thick cloth spread across the floor, along with the other boys. A light-bulb with yellow light was visible at the corner of the ceiling. The room was mostly empty except for two travel-bags, a pack of barbecue sticks, a box filled with what looked like some type of food, and two men who stood in front of the boys, talking.

Paul, who woke up, quickly pretended to remain unconscious once he saw his father standing in front. Pretty soon, both Gary and Ash had also gained consciousness.

"Where are we?" Ash asked, turning to the other boys. Gary and Drew shrugged.

Finally, the two men turned around and looked at the boys.

"Paul, that's enough," Mr. Shinji said sternly. "Stop pretending. Get up this instant!"

Paul opened his eyes, and sat up like the rest.

"Ash?" Mr. Ketchum said, turning to his son. "Is that really you?"

"Hey, how did you know my name?" Ash exclaimed, surprised. "Yeah, I'm Ash. What's your name?"

Mr. Ketchum looked at him and thought for a moment, then got a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm you," he said slowly. "From the future."

"Wow! Really?"

"Nah, just kidding. I'm your father."

Ash laughed.

"Stop joking! You're not my dad."

"Why not?"

"'Cause you're _me!_ " Ash said, as if it were obvious. "You said so yourself."

Meanwhile, Paul was in big trouble with his father.

"Why aren't you at home?" Mr. Shinji demanded.

Paul remained silent and kept his head down.

" _Paul!_ This is the last straw! You are going home, _right now!_ "

Mr. Shinji grabbed onto Paul's wrist, and pulled him towards a door that was located on the right corner of the room.

"You said you worked in a huge factory," grumbled Paul. "Doesn't look that huge to _me_."

"Bye Paul," mumbled Gary and Drew. Paul gave a single wave in return.

"He's doomed," Gary said to Drew once Paul exited through the door. Drew nodded.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you, Ash," Mr. Ketchum said, embracing his son. "It's been so long."

"Me too," said Ash, returning the hug. "I mean, it's not every day you get to hug yourself from the future."

"I'm not—" Mr. Ketchum looked at Ash for a long time. "Okay, you know what? Are you boys hungry?"

"Yeah!" shouted Ash.

"All right then. Let me get you boys some food. Magicarp come out!"

A weak looking magicarp came out, flopping here and there.

Mr. Ketchum picked it up.

"Do you boys want to see a magic trick?"

The boys looked at each other and agreed.

Mr. Ketchum took the magicarp and some barbecue sticks to a corner, and with his back at the kids, he went to work.

He grabbed a few things from his back-pack and they could hear a flopping, smacking, chopping and sizzling noise. A fire was slightly visible, but the boys could not see what he was doing.

Finally, the man turned around with a plate containing some type of delicious-looking meat. It was orange-ish pink and sprinkled with colourful spices making it a brilliant display.

"Ta Da!" he said proudly.

"Hey! Where did the magicarp go?" asked Ash, looking surprised and confused.

"Yeah. Where did it go?" added Gary. "Was that the magic trick? You made it disappear and brought food instead?"

Drew stared at the dish for a while.

"Guys," the grass-head said slowly. "I think that _is_ the magicarp."

The boys sat still for a moment and let the information sink in.

"Aaahhh!" screamed Gary. "He's trying to make us eat _dead fish!_ "

The other two boys looked shocked and scooched backwards, away from the dish.

Mr. Ketchum gave an incredulous look.

"Oh come on. I'm sure you've all eaten fish before," the man said. "I mean, you eat sushi, right? Sushi is fish."

He held plate towards them.

"Don't eat that! It's a trick!" cried Drew to the other two.

"Quick. Under here," said Gary, crawling under the blanket they had been sitting on. Drew and Ash followed.

"Don't come in, okay?" said Drew to Mr. Ketchum, poking his head out. "We are discussing private matters."

"Oh, uh, all right."

"I never knew I would turn out like that," Ash said, unhappily. "Eating my own Pokemon, I mean."

Drew sympathetically patted Ash on the shoulder.

"But what are we gonna do now?" asked Gary. "We can't just stay under here forever."

Drew hugged his knees.

"Guys," he said. "We only have each other now. With such a dangerous world around us, there is nothing we can do except take care of each other."

"Hey, I know which movie that's from," said Gary.

"So you mean we just stay here and take care of each other?" asked Ash worriedly. "But we have no food. Only dead fish."

Drew held back tears.

"Do you think we're gonna die?" he whispered. "With only dead fish for food and no water?"

"Yes," said Gary, trying to sound brave though his voice was shaking. "But we'll die together as one."

"Oh c'mon! You all are over-reacting," said Mr. Ketchum, over-hearing their conversation. He pulled the blanket off the boys.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" the boys screamed as loudly as they can.

"He's got us!"

"We're cornered!"

"I don't wanna die!"

Mr. Ketchum back off.

"Ouch!" he cried as a shoe came out of nowhere and hit him in the head.

"Leave my son alone!" exclaimed Delia, jumping down from the trapped-door above, holding a broom like a sword.

She hit him once more on the back with her broom.

"Yo Delia, chill!" Mr. Ketchum cried. "It's only me!"

Mrs. Ketchum, whose broom was raised high ready to hit him, froze.

" _You?_ " she gasped. "But- but... How?"

Mr. Kethcum straightened up and looked at her.

"W-what a-are you doing here?" he whispered, looking rather nervous.

"Mom! He's was making us eat dead fish!" Ash sobbed, running to hug his mom.

Delia, for once, didn't react to her son.

"You were _supposed_ to be on your Pokemon journey," she said, irked. "You said you were off to beat the champion."

"W-well yes, uh," stammered Mr. Ketchum. "I-I mean, I _was_ but, uh, y'see, uh... Well..." he took a deep breath. "I didn't quite beat the champion."

Delia gasped.

"But I was going to c-come home but then..."

" _Then?_ "

"I was offered another job and ended up here," he finished, looking guilty. He avoided looking at her in the eyes.

Delia gave him a suspicious look.

"Which job?" she asked.

He look down, then back at her.

"Delia," he said, finally. "I'm a secret agent."

Gary and Drew looked at each other.

Ash stared at him wide-eyed.

And Delia gave an incredulous look.

"You're a _what_?!"

* * *

 **Chapter two complete! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Please review, follow, favourite, and have a spectacular day!**


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